Category Archives: Get Aligned

Decide what kind of leader to be and collect followers.

Get Aligned, Manage to Lead, People Matters

How to decide what kind of leader to be.

As suggested by the illustration in Figure 1, a leader:

  • Sets direction represented in the first panel by the target with a bull’s-eye in the middle.
  • Aligns resources; that is, the leader collects followers who all look to hit the same target.
  • Motivates action, as suggested by the radio bars in the lower corners of the third figure, which causes the resources to progress towards the target.
Figure 1: A leader sets direction, aligns resources, and motivates action.
Figure 1: A leader sets direction, aligns resources, and motivates action.

Another way to say it, as summarized in Figure 2, is that a leader develops, holds, nurtures, communicates, and drives to achieve a vision. Like Harry Potter’s Marauder’s map, the leader holds a map that is always changing, making sense of it, and navigating the course accordingly with the team looking over his/her shoulder. Continue reading How to decide what kind of leader to be. →

Executive Transition, Get Aligned, Job Search, People Matters

How a new executive earns respect by listening until s/he can be heard.

Most people cannot listen until they have been heard. As a consequence, wise leaders who want to affect thinking and behavior learn to first be a great listener to those they aim to impact.

Holding back from jumping-in when a key point comes to mind in the middle of a fast-paced conversation can be a challenge but it is also essential in order to avoid being written-off as one who does not listen or understand, especially if the leader is new to the organization.

The following steps help a leader stay in-tune and attuned and dramatically improve their odds of success:

  • Pay attention. When someone talks, give undivided attention and do not interrupt.  While s/he is talking you may think you know what s/he is going to say and what you want to say next rushes to mind.  In that instant you experience an irrepressible urge to interrupt and jump-in.  Following the urge causes many bright, successful senior executives to often unintentionally and repeatedly use the power of their position to hijack conversations.  The pattern wears on those in the organization and soon the leader is written-off as one who never listens and who does not get, or care about, those s/he leads.
  • Don’t jump-in.  Set thoughts aside in your mind or make a note of what you plan to share when the time comes.  Force yourself, instead, to concentrate on precisely what is being said.  Do not evaluate what is being said and do not begin to formulate a response.  Just listen word-for-word with the objective to repeat back exactly what you heard to be sure you got it right.  To force yourself to listen, try to write-down what is being said exactly as you hear it in the moment.  Strive to hear and understand each word as well as the overall point being made.
  • Say what was said. When the speaker stops, ask for permission to repeat back what was heard.  Follow with an opening phrase such as: “What I heard you say is:…” and then say back what you heard, word-for-word.  When done, ask for confirmation that you heard correctly.

Continue reading How a new executive earns respect by listening until s/he can be heard. →

Get Aligned, People Matters

How to test for and secure top team alignment on key matters to improve growth and performance.

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Get AlignedLeadership teams need to Get Clear about many things, including:

Leaders often struggle to reach a good, a better, or even a best solution to countless such questions. More important than the right answer, though, is all team members having the same answer.

Once all team members are aligned on one answer, even a not very good one, on any matter, odds are that performance will improve because everyone pulls in the same direction. The result is a multiplier effect suggested by the three arrows forming a much larger fourth arrow in the above graphic . Continue reading How to test for and secure top team alignment on key matters to improve growth and performance. →

Get Aligned, Get Clear, Manage to Lead

How Core Leaders get clear about what problem their organization solves for whom.

Core Leaders who all describe the problem their organization solves for whom in the same way are apt to provide more consistent guidance and direction and so increase the odds of better performance across the board.

To get clear or to test for clarity, invite each Core Leader to:

  • Collect and consolidate input from each leader.  Note points of alignment and departure.
  • Convene a Core Leadership Group session to share and discuss collected input.  Encourage leaders to iterate to a consolidated articulation; possibly over several sessions.
  • OPTION: Submit consolidated statement for review and comment by select certified IntelliVen students, clients, and followers by filling out and submitting theabove template.
  • Share consolidated articulation with Management Team.
  • Edit to reflect refinements based on input from managers.
  • Review with All Hands in written and stand-up presentations to inform, guide; solicit reaction and collect suggestions for improvement.
  • Revise as appropriate after review with Core Leaders and Management Team.
  • Finalize and publish for use in internal and external communications as a constant reminder, and to re-enforce clarity about, what the organization does for whom and why as well as to be clear about what the organization does not do.
  • Review and revise annually to reflect updated and expanded thinking in the face of experience

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Get Aligned, Manage to Lead, People Matters

Form a Core Leadership Team to guide and drive peak performance.

No one leader, and not even any two, has the breadth of competence and depth of capacity to do anything of much significance alone. Successful organizations usually have a core leadership team of three to seven top executives who are diverse in terms of skills, perspective, and experience yet aligned in an unyielding pursuit of specific goals. They are, in short, a diverse, cohesive, cooperative leadership unit.

The odds of success go way up when the top team has at least three players with different, complementary strengths that are all important to the success of the organization and who have:

  • Established relationships in that they know and understand each other well and enjoy working together.
  • Extraordinary desire, drive, capacity, and competence to accomplish their collective goal.
  • Instinct and innate drive to work with each other and on what they can do to help the organization succeed.
  • Agreed to give credit for any and all success to everyone else so as to not compromise the odds of organization success by vying among themselves for individual credit or praise.
  • Committed to grow and empower others over time to behave and perform as they do.

When a core team grows beyond seven in number, successful organizations find a subgroup, again of three or so, evolves to provide direction and guidance to the larger team.

The inner circle can be called a core leadership group, an executive committee, a steering committee, an executive leadership team, or any other name. Whatever it is called, it is best to keep it low-key so other leaders do not stress about whether they are part of the group or not. It is simply a group committed to keeping everything moving in the right direction no matter where they happen to be in terms of organization function, hierarchy, or seniority.

The group meets regularly to keep things on track using the following  agenda:

  • Set and manage the leadership team agenda.
  • Outline and guide the evolution and adoption of the organization’s target mission, vision, purpose, culture, strategy, annual plan, policies, and core processes.
  • Identify key areas needing attention and drive to be sure they are addressed.
  • Set operating priorities.
  • Set intent and key parameters to guide core processes (e.g., assignments, incentive compensation, goals, performance appraisals, promotions, salary reviews, staff development, governance, metrics of performance, communications, etc.).
  • Prepare and communicate goals, direction and status to the stakeholders including employees, directors, investors, lenders, clients, and partners.
  • Consider and act on recommendations from Board of Directors, investors, and advisers including investment decisions.